Changes to watch when flying to cruises

So you’re a Canadian and you’re catching a cruise in warm weather climes. In all probability you’ll be flying. I know some of you drive and if you’re in B.C. and going to Alaska that’s easy, but if you’re heading to Florida, New Orleans, Galveston, Los Angeles or San Diego for departure, the plane is your most logical option.

So in a cruise column, here is some plain talk about planes.

I am a bit of airplane buff so I’m happy to see that United Airlines will soon be taking possession of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner…the much-delayed Dreamliner, I might add.

So if you’re going to be catching your ship in Europe or Asia, take a look the schedules to see if a Dreamliner fits in your plans. United is ordering 50 so expect to see some on domestic flights in the U.S.

Meanwhile, if you’re going to Hawaii to embark, WestJet is expanding its non-stop seasonal service from Calgary and Edmonton. It’s mostly to Maui but they will be offering twice-weekly service to Honolulu, where Norwegian has 7-day itineraries year-round, and where other cruise lines operate cruises before continuing to the South Pacific or in the spring before heading to Vancouver to start the Alaska season.

The airline is following in the footsteps of many others by offering premium economy in several rows on its 737s. While this means priority boarding, it will cost more because the seats will have legroom added. It will also mean less legroom for passengers in regular economy — mainly the rest of the plane.

If you’re paying extra, your legroom increases to 91 centimetres. It’s currently 81 on WestJet’s Boeing 737-600s and 737-700s and 86 on its Boeing 737-800s. The extra legroom means a loss of three centimetres on the 81-centimetre seats (to 78) and five centimetres on the 86-centimetre seats (to 81).

Airline management suggests we will not feel any impact in the seat.

Yes we will. Do the math.

This also means there will be fewer lower-cost regular economy seats available on each flight, according to CEO Greg Saretsky. When this all gets off the ground in December we should have a pretty good idea if you feel the shortage of space, as I think you will.